Ronnie Lane’s transformation from button-faced mod to raggedy-arsed minstrel was one of rock’s less likely overhauls, but the results were no less inspired. Sounding at times like the missing link between The Basement Tapes and Rum, Sodomy & The Lash, Lane’s two mid-’70s Island albums have aged well, and reveal that his melodic gifts never deserted him even if his business acumen did. On the cover of “I’m Gonna Sit Right Down” he sounds, presciently, like his old bottle buddy Rod does now, while Chuck Berry’s “You Never Can Tell” gets a complete Anglo-Celtic makeover. Imagine Kathy Burke and Johnny Vegas dancing rather than Uma Thurman and John Travolta. Go on.
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